Bad matchups make them boring
I await the arrival of college football season with a blend of both unending enthusiasm and a little bit of dread. I love college football in almost all its glorious shades, but there is one thing that always leaves me disappointed. You see, I know that the enlightened Athletic Directors are going to do something which, while being the best interests of the schools they represent, make the beginning of the season BORING! They schedule games with competition that is not up to par. The big teams do this because it gets them an easy win, and the smaller teams do this so they make some money out of the deal. The schools win and the fans lose.
Generally speaking, the matchups the first few weeks of the season are dull. I mean, who really wants to see Texas pound on North Texas all day? Or Oklahoma beat up Bowling Green? I certainly don't. I want to see them playing someone who is somewhere close to being their peer on the field. And then you get those weird 1A vs. 1AA matches that... why go there. Kansas State vs.... W. Kentucky... come on, you can find someone better than that to play against. Let's see what you can really do. But alas, you have to wait until mid-season for any real spark in this sport.
The one game I would have wanted to see, #6 Miami vs. #5 Florida State, was postponed because of Hurricane Frances.... but I give both Miami and Florida State credit. They were willing to start the season with a baptism by fire, and really test their mutual mettle against an opponent that was more than their peer, but a rival for #1 as well. This is the kind of scheduling I like to see. I am also sure that being an intrastate game, those stands would have been packed. THIS is the definition of a home opener.
When I used to play NCAA Football 2000 on PS1, when I was doing the scheduling, I always set up good matchups for the first game... everyone in the top 25 had to face off against another team in the top 25, MAC teams played mid-level teams in the ACC or the best of Mountain West/WAC, and the Big 12, Pac 10, Big Ten and SEC all exchanged games those first two weeks, so when a team went 11-0 or 12-0, well, you knew they were tough and deserved to go the National Championship. Sadly, this kind of scheduling would never happen in real life, and that is a real shame for the sport.
I mean, you can't have a sport whose unofficial motto is "Every game matters" when you don't schedule games that actually matter.